For the fifth time in his career, Michael van Gerwen won the Players Championship Finals yesterday.
Looking at the form, it must be considered that the world’s two best darts players right now are Michael van Gerwen and Gerwyn Price.
Thus, the two also faced each other yesterday when the Players Championship Finals had to be decided.
To reach the final, Michael van Gerwen had beaten Mervyn King in the quarter-finals and Ian White in the semi-finals. Gerwyn Price had also beaten Stephen Bunting in the quarter-finals and Chris Dobey in the semi-finals to reach the final.
In the final, Michael van Gerwen was able to take revenge after losing against Gerwyn Price at the Grand Slam of Darts.
However, the final got off with a slow start when Michael van Gerwen had to use 22 darts to win the first leg. Neither of the two was able to hit the outer ring, and Michael van Gerwen then used entire seven darts on the double before putting it into double two.
After that, Michael van Gerwen came ahead with 3-1. The lead on the two legs held for a while, but all of a sudden Gerwyn Price equalized to 6-6, then led to 7-6. After that, neither of them broke each other until Michael van Gerwen broke to a 9-8 lead. Then he also got ahead 10-8 before Price reduced again. In the 20th leg, it looked like Gerwyn Price would break the Dutch and bring the match into the deciding leg.
Thus, Gerwyn Price threw the first dart in triple 19 as he was left with 137. He then placed dart number two in double 20, but the third arrow hit slightly below the double, and as he could not checkout the 20 on the next three darts, Michael van Gerwen was finally able to take the victory with a checkout at double 5.
In addition, Luke Humphries also secured the title of youth world champion by beating Adam Gawlas 6-0 in the final, played just before the final of the Players Championship Finals.
2019 Ladbrokes Players Championship Finals
Sunday November 24
Afternoon Session
Quarter-Finals
Gerwyn Price 10-3 Stephen Bunting
Chris Dobey 10-2 Raymond van Barneveld
Michael van Gerwen 10-6 Mervyn King
Ian White 10-9 William O’Connor
Evening Session
Semi-Finals
Gerwyn Price 11-8 Chris Dobey
Michael van Gerwen 11-8 Ian White
Final
Michael van Gerwen 11-9 Gerwyn Price
Plus
PDC Unicorn World Youth Championship Final
Luke Humphries 6-0 Adam Gawlas